SM Home Brings Back-to-School Season Home with May Masterclass at Megamall

Bento mom Nikki Garcia and speech-language pathologist Teacher Mariel Martinez of Project Playtime headline an interactive session on baon prep and study-zone design as Filipino families prepare for hybrid learning.

As Filipino students return to classrooms and screens this June, SM Home is opening its month-long back-to-school program with Start Smart for School, the May edition of SM Home Masterclass —kicking off Friday, May 22 at SM Home Megamall, Lower Ground, SM Store, Megamall Building B.

The Friday afternoon session launches a full month of programming around the theme. The in-store event opens the conversation with a focused panel of practitioners; from there, the back-to-school theme carries through May with online content from SM Home and its featured experts, and in-store promotions on featured items across participating branches nationwide.

The timing addresses what has quietly become the most demanding season of the Filipino home calendar. With hybrid schedules now standard across many private companies and schools, the home is being asked to function as classroom, canteen, and command center, often before 8 AM.

Nikki Garcia (@mrsnikkigarcia_) is the mother of three behind the #nikkimbento community, where bento-making is reframed as a daily ritual of family care.

Leading The Baon System module is Nikki Garcia, the mother of three behind @mrsnikkigarcia_ and the well-loved bento community known by the hashtag #nikkimbento, where bento-making is reframed as a daily ritual of family care. Garcia will walk guests through her real-world approach to baon prep — a system she has built over years of packing lunches for her own children — and will lead an interactive bento assembly session for all attendees.

Teacher Mariel Martinez, a licensed speech-language pathologist from the University of the Philippines Manila with more than twelve years of clinical experience and the founder of BOOST Therapy Center in Makati. Teacher Mariel is the creator of Project Playtime (@project.playtime)

The second module, The Study Zone, brings in Teacher Mariel Martinez, a licensed speech-language pathologist from the University of the Philippines Manila with more than twelve years of clinical experience and the founder of BOOST Therapy Center in Makati. Teacher Mariel is the creator of Project Playtime (@project.playtime) — a free educational resource where she shares practical talking and play tips through her bite-sized #EducReels. Her session will guide guests through how to build a focused, distraction-free learning space at home, drawing on what she has learned across more than a thousand Filipino families about how a child's environment, routines, and sense of ownership shape their ability to focus.

Both sessions feature curated picks from SM Home's most trusted brands across furniture, food keepers, kitchen tools, organizers, and lighting — from Locknlock and Thermos to Imarflex, Tefal, Umbra, and Lunarx.

“The school year is one of the most home-intensive seasons of any Filipino family's life,” said Janice T. Yang, Business Unit Head of SM Home. “Our role is to make that transition seamless, sustainable, and stress-free — not by adding more, but by helping families set up the systems that actually hold a school year together.”

Start Smart for School is the third installment of SM Home Masterclass, the brand's 2026 headline campaign positioning SM Home as the ultimate home curator. Each monthly Masterclass kicks off a theme that runs across the full month — through online content, expert-led conversations, and in-store promotions on featured items. Previous editions have covered sleep wellness (Best Sleep 101, March) and summer entertaining (The Smart Summer Home Masterclass, April).

Guests will also enjoy exclusive deals of up to 50% off on select back-to-school must-haves — available at all SM Home branches nationwide throughout the month of May.